The Nordic Noir thrillers worth watching

With the recent Netflix release of Jake Gyllenhaal’s nordic-inspired The Guilty, as the nights draw in, what better time for a smorgasbord of films from the land of the midnight sun?  The Guilty is a remake of the 2018 Danish film of the same name about a troubled 911 operator who attempts to come to the rescue of a distressed caller. 

Since the literary, TV and movie phenomenon of Nordic Noir first broke out from its Scandinavian confines in the 2000s, the genre has become an established part of UK culture, along with cosy lifestyle cousins hygge, lagom and lykke.

To an extent, Nordic Noir has become a victim of its success, with its familiar ingredients now drifting into cliché, as evidenced by the wholesale adoption of moody Nordic Noir conventions in UK crime dramas such as Marcella, Shetland, Hinterland, Annika, Keeping Faith and far too many others. There’s a good chance that the slow pacing, portentous dialogue, literal darkness, and angst of Nordic Noir influenced shows will seem to future generations as dated as episodes of Z-Cars are to us.